1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a building structure, and more particularly to a structure which can be fabricated from readily available building materials with a minimum of measurement and with unsophisticated tools.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most modern buildings evolve by first deciding upon floor plans and facades, and then choosing and forming the materials with which the buildings are to be fabricated. This approach is satisfactory in situations where design is an important factor, but is not usually the most economical or uncomplicated approach. Previously I have taken the approach of beginning with readily available building materials and developing a design in which these materials may be assembled into a building structure without requiring any complicated calculations, measurements or tools. Of course the usual requirements of strength, weather resistance and rigidity were also met. Briefly, four foot by eight foot plywood panels are used in this structure by cutting them diagonally and joining the two triangular pieces into an isosceles triangle having an eight foot base and height. These triangles are then assembled into a building structure using adhesive and staples. U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,452 describes this structure.
The foregoing structure eminently met my requirements and gave me the challenge of conceiving a larger structure which would adhere to the same principles of forming complex structures in space using only simple whole numbers and stock four foot by eight foot plywood for components.
Only five regular polyhedrons can be formed, i.e. those having identical sides with identical edges. With the exception of the cube and dodecahedron, the others are composed of equilateral triangles. By joining regular plane figures of more than one type, while keeping the corners or vertices the same, fourteen semiregular polyhedrons can be formed. These regular and semiregular polyhedrons are intuitively attractive as building structures because of their simplicity and symmetry; however, with the well recognized exception of the cube, they have not become popular as building structures.
Others have previously used triangular panels or ribs in fabricating large building structures. These structures have not satified my requirements as one can see by examination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,176 discloses a construction which involves fashioning wood frames for triangles and covering them with sheets of plywood, plastic, etc. As the various drawings show, the frames must be measured and cut to various dimensions and assembled using metal fittings.
Another aspect of previous work involves geodesic domes which require a multiplicity of types of components. This approach and the others have resulted in perversions of the simple beauty of the regular and semiregular polyhedrons.
It is therefore an object of my invention, to provide building structures which provide the symmetry of regular and semiregular polyhedrons and still retain the simplicity of construction exemplified in my previously patented invention (U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,452).